Blue Jays Game Recap: Casey Janssen Returns!

Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

Here’s your Blue Jays Game Recap for Tuesday night’s tilt against the Cleveland Indians in the first game of three.

Cleveland Indians- 4   vs Toronto Blue Jays- 5
W: R.A. Dickey (4-3)  L: Justin Masterson (2-2)  SV: Casey Janssen (1)

After breezing through the first two innings, Dickey gave up a single to Mike Aviles. He promptly walked Michael Bourn. Nick Swisher lined to Jose Bautista. It appeared to be a clean catch, but it was called “no catch”. No angle from the replay gave a clear enough angle for John Gibbons to actually argue the play. Aviles scored to make it 1-0.

In the bottom of the 4th, Jose Reyes stroked his first triple of the season to LCF. Cabrera “Melked” one and drove him in with a sacrifice fly to CF. It was so nice to see Reyes run that triple out. He was also enjoying it. You could see him smiling as he rounded 2nd. While the Blue Jays had tied it up, they had only made Masterson throw 40 pitches through the end of the 4th.

In t he 5th, Juan Francisco (J-Frank) stepped to the plate and absolutely launched a monster HR to CF to make it 2-1 Blue Jays. You HAVE to watch it HERE. Brett Lawrie followed it with an infield single. Then Josh Thole drew a walk. And Kevin Pillar struck out on a nasty slider away to end the threat.

But, in the 6th, the Jays were back at it again. Cabrera “Melked” a lead off walk. Bautista hit a groundball to a diving Carlos Santana at 3rd, which he could not come up with a clean throw on. Both runners were safe at 2nd and 1st respectively. Adam Lind stepped in and laced an opposite field to the gap in LCF to bring in both runners. That brought the score to 4-1. Niick Swisher had NO chance on. That brought in Lind to bring the score to 5-1. Brett Lawrie then walked.

That would spell the end for Justin Masterson. For the first 5 innings, it looked like the Blue Jays would maintain their minimal success against him. But the 6th inning would prove to be his undoing. His final line: 5 1/3 innings, 6 hits, 5 ER, 3 BB, 4 K. This was a much better start than the Jays are used to against Masterson.

As for Dickey, his night got a little harder when he gave up an innocent single to Asdrubal Cabrera to lead off the 7th. The next batter, David Murphy, also singled. Except, he kind of didn’t. A sharp groundball was hit to Lawrie at 2nd. He got ahead of himself and tried to turn the doubleplay. The ball ate him up and he lost sight of it. That play could have been the difference maker in the inning. But it wasn’t. Murphy was safe. The official scorers ruled it was a hit, not an error. The call was changed in  the 9th inning to an error on Lawrie. Yan Gomes walked to load the bases. Dickey would hit Lonnie Chisenhall to bring in a run and bring John Gibbons to the mound. Dickey’s final line: 6 innings, 5 hits, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6K on 102 pitches. Really, it was a much better outing than the final numbers would lead us to believe. Dickey was working his pitches well this evening. He had his fastball and change up going early.

Aaron Loup came into the game to clean up the mess in the 7th. He would give up a hit and allow 2 of the inherited runners to score. Brett Cecil came in for the 8th. He would give up a lead off single to Carlos Santana. After a passed ball that sent Santana to second, Cecil struck out the next two batters. Then Yan Gomes ripped a single to LF and Santana charged for home. But, Cabrera “Melked” a throw to nail him at home to save the run. You can see it HERE. I think the call could have gone either way. Luckily, it went the Blue Jays way.

Casey Janssen entered the game in the 9th for his first save opportunity of the season. And, he didn’t disappoint. He struck out Lonnie Chisenhall to start the inning. Mike Aviles grounded back to Janssen. Michael Bourn dropped in a bloop single and Nick Swisher popped up to Melky Cabrera. What a calming force Janssen is! The Blue Jays truly missed that.

Tomorrow, the series continues. Corey Kluber (3-3, 3.48) vs Dustin McGowan (2-1, 4.63)